Female given name
Margaret Pronunciation Gender Female Name day 23 May or 25 January Language(s) Latin , Greek and Iranian Meaning Pearl Related names Maggie , Máiréad , Madge , Marguerite , Margarita , Margareta , Margaretta , Margarida , Margarete , Marge , Margherita , Margo , Margot , Margie , Daisy , Margit , Meg , Megan , Mette , Maisie , Małgorzata , Rita , Gretchen , Gretel , Grethe , Greta , Peggy
Margaret is a feminine given name , which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Old Iranian .[ 1] It has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular throughout the Middle Ages . It became less popular between the 16th and 18th century, but became more common again after this period, becoming the second-most popular female name in the United States in 1903. Since this time, it has become less common, but was still the ninth-most common name for women of all ages in the United States as of the 1990 census .
Margaret has many diminutive forms in many languages, including Daisy , Greta , Gretchen , Maggie , Madge , Maisie , Marge , Margie , Margo , Margot , Marnie , Meg , Megan , Molly , Peggy , and Rita .[ 2] [ 3]
Margaret is derived via French (Marguerite ) and Latin (Margarita ) from Ancient Greek : μαργαρίτης (margarítēs ), via Persian murwārīd , meaning "pearl ".[ 4] [ 5] [ 6] Margarita (given name) traces the etymology further as مروارید, morvārīd in modern Persian, derived from Sogdian marγārt , both meaning 'pearl '. It is ultimately traces its roots to Old Iranian -mrgāhrīta* , "derived from a shell".[ 1]
Greta (English ), (German ), (Italian ), (Lithuanian ), (Polish ), (Swedish ),
Gretchen (English ), (German ),
Rita (English ), (Estonian ), (Hungarian ), (Italian ), (Indonesian )
Reet (Estonian )
Belgium and the Netherlands [ edit ]
England, Scotland, and Great Britain[ edit ]
Margaret, Countess of Devon (disambiguation)
Margaret, Countess of Mar (died 1391), Scotland
Margaret, queen-dowager of Scotland (1489–1541), Queen of Scots by marriage to James IV of Scotland and regent for their son, James V of Scotland
Margaret of Anjou (1430–1482), wife of King Henry VI of England
Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby , (1443–1509), mother of Henry VII of England and paternal grandmother of King Henry VIII of England
Margaret Douglas (1515–1578), daughter of Margaret Tudor
Lady Margaret Fortescue (1923–2013), one of the UK's largest private landowners
Lady Margaret Hay (1918–1975), British courtier
Margaret Pole , born Princess Margaret of York and Clarence (1473–1541), Countess of Salisbury
Margaret Tudor (1489–1541), elder sister of Henry VIII of England and great-grandmother of James VI of Scotland / James I of England
Princess Margaret of Connaught (1882–1920), elder daughter of Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (1930–2002), only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II and the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth
Saint Margaret of Scotland (c. 1045–1093 ), Queen of Scots
Margaret, Countess of Blois (died 1230)
Margaret, Countess of Brienne (born 1365), France
Margaret, Countess of Soissons (died 1350), France
Margaret, Countess of Vertus (1406–1466), France
Margaret of France, Duchess of Brabant (1254–1271)
Margaret of Provence (1221–1285)
Margaret of Valois (1553–1615)
Margaret of York (1446–1503), Duchess of Burgundy and wife of Charles the Bold , Regent of France
Marguerite de Navarre (1492–1549)
Maggie Smith (1934–2024), British actress
Maisie Williams (born 1997), English actress.
Margaret Uyauperq Aniksak (1907–1993), Inuit sculptor
Margaret Ashmore Sudduth (1859–1957), American educator, editor, temperance advocate
Margaret Atwood (born 1939), Canadian novelist and poet
Margaret Avison (1918–2007), Canadian poet
Margaret Barnard (1898–1992), British painter and linocut maker
Margaret Barr (choreographer) (1904–1991), Australian dance-drama choreographer
Margaret Berger (born 1985), Norwegian singer-songwriter
Margaret Bourke-White (1904–1971), American photojournalist
Margaret Brouwer (born 1940), American composer and composition teacher
Margaret Busby , Ghanaian British publisher and writer
Margaret Cavendish, Duchess of Newcastle-upon-Tyne (1623–1673), English writer, poet, and playwright.
Margaret Cho (born 1968), American comedian and actress
Margaret Clark (born 1943), Australian author
Margaret Clarkson (born 1941), English artist
Margaret Cleaves (1848–1917), American physician, writer
Margaret Colin (born 1958), American actress
Margaret Wootten Collier (1869–1947), American author
Margaret Deland (1857–1945), American author
Margaret Drabble (born 1939), English author
Margaret E. Winslow (1836–1936), American activist, editor, author
Margaret Eleanor Parker (1827–1896), American social activist, social reformer, travel writer
Margaret Elizabeth Sangster (1838–1912), American author, poet, editor
Margaret Forster (1938–2016), British author
Margaret Frame (1903–1985), Canadian painter
Margaret Frances Sullivan (1847–1903), Irish-American writer, journalist, editor
Margaret Fuller (1810–1850), American critic
Margaret Gale (born 1930), British operatic soprano
Margaret Harker (1920–2013), British photographer and historian of photography
Margaret Hillis (1921–1998), American conductor
Margaret Hunt Brisbane (1858–1925), American poet
Margaret Lane (1907–1994), British journalist, biographer and novelist
Margaret Larkin (1899–1967), American writer
Margaret Laurence (1926–1987), Canadian novelist
Margaret Leighton (1922–1976), English actress
Margaret Lockwood (1916–1990), British actress
Margaret Manton Merrill , British-American journalist, writer, translator, elocutionist
Margaret Mazzantini (born 1961), Italian-Irish author
Margaret McDonald Bottome (1827–1906), American reformer, organizational founder, author
Margaret Mitchell (1900–1949), American author
Margaret Nielsen (1933–2023), New Zealand pianist and music teacher
Margaret Ogden (born 1952), American fantasy author best known by the pen name Robin Hobb
Margaret Oliphant (1828–1897), Scottish author
Margaret Bloodgood Peeke (1838–1908), American traveler, lecturer, author
Margaret Peterson Haddix (born 1964), American writer
Margaret Randall (born 1936), American writer
Margaret Roper (1505–1544), English writer, translator
Margaret Rutherford (1892–1972), British actress of the stage and screen
Margaret Scobie (born 1948), Australian indigenous Aboriginal painter
Margaret Severin-Hansen , American ballerina
Margaret (singer) (born 1991), Polish singer and songwriter
Margaret Tracey (born 1967), American ballet dancer
Margaret Travolta (born 1946), American actress
Margaret Walker (1915–1998), American author
Margaret Whiting (1924–2011), American popular music and country music singer
Margaret Wise Brown (1910–1952), American author
Margaret Wynne Lawless (1847–1926), American poet, author, educator, philanthropist
Margaret Keane (1927–2022), American painter
Meg Stuart (born 1965), American choreographer, dancer, performing artist
Education, science, and technology[ edit ]
Margaret, Lady Moir (1864–1942), founding member of the Women's Engineering Society, Scotland
Margaret Haley (1861–1939), American educator, promoted teacher's unions
Margaret Abraham , professor of sociology
Margaret Becklake (1922–2018), Canadian academic and epidemiologist
Margaret Burbidge (1919–2020), British astronomer
Margaret Byers (1832–1912), Irish educator, activist, social reformer, missionary, writer
Margaret Mordecai Jones Cruikshank (1878–1955), American educator and college president
Margaret Elisabeth Felix (born 1937), Indian educator
Margaret Floy Washburn (1871–1939), American psychologist
Margaret Frame , Scottish scientist, professor of molecular cell biology
Margaret Gurney (1908–2002), American mathematician, statistician, and computer programmer
Margaret Hamilton (born 1936), American computer scientist
Margaret Keenan Harrais (1872–1964), American educator; first woman superintendent of schools in Fairbanks, Alaska
Margaret Fordyce Dalrymple Hay (1889–1975), Australian University of Sydney Law School administrator
Margaret Holden (died 1998), British botanist, biochemist
Margaret Howe Lovatt , naturalist
Margaret Hutchinson (1904–1997), English educator, naturalist and author
Margaret Lin Xavier (1898–1932), Thai physician
Margaret Mead (1901–1978), American anthropologist
Margaret Murray (1863-1963), Anglo-Indian academic, Egyptologist, archaeologist, anthropologist and folklorist.
Margaret Helen Read (1889–1991), British social anthropologist and academic
Margaret C. Roberts (1846–1926), American obstetrician
Margaret Warner Morley (1858–1923), American biologist, wrote children's books on biology
Margaret Wiecek , Polish-American operations researcher
Margaret A. Davidson (1950–2017), American lawyer and coastal science pioneer
Margaret (Ann) Coffey (born 1946), former British Member of Parliament for Stockport
Margaret Abela (born 1949), 8th First Lady of Malta
Margaret Aachilla Aleper (born 1963), Ugandan politician
Margaret H. Barden , was a New Hampshire state legislator
Margaret Beckett (born 1943), British Member of Parliament for Derby South
Margaret Chase Smith (1897–1995), was the first woman to serve in both houses of the United States Congress , and the first woman to represent Maine in either.
Margaret Curran (born 1958), former British Member of Parliament for Glasgow East
Margaret Davidson (1871–1964), British wife of colonial governor of New South Wales, Australia
Margaret Davidson (suffragist) (1879–1978), Scottish suffragist, teacher and WW1 nurse
Margaret Ewing (1945–2006), Scottish politician
Margrith von Felten (born 1944), Swiss politician
Margaret Ferrier (born 1960), British Member of Parliament for Rutherglen and Hamilton West
Margaret French McLean , First Lady of North Carolina
Margaret Greenwood (born 1959), British Member of Parliament for Wirral West
Margarett (Maggie) Hassan (born 1958), United States Senator for New Hampshire
Margaret Hodge (born 1944), British Member of Parliament for Barking
Margaret Hoover (born 1977), American political consultant and commentator, great-granddaughter of the former president
Margaret Gardner Hoey (1875–1942), American political hostess and First Lady of North Carolina
Margaret (Maggie) Jones, Baroness Jones of Whitchurch , British Labour Peer and trade union official
Margaret Sara Meggitt (1866–1920), British political activist and Suffragette
Margaret Mitchell (Canadian politician) (1925–2017), New Democratic Party Member of Parliament for Vancouver East
Margaret Mitchell (Scottish politician) (born 1952), Scottish Conservative politician
Margaret Moran (born 1955), former Labour MP for Luton South who was convicted of the largest amount of fraud in the United Kingdom parliamentary expenses scandal
Margaret Ritchie (born 1958), politician who served in the Northern Ireland Assembly and both British Houses of Parliament
Margaret Rose Sanford (1918–2006), First Lady of North Carolina
Margaret Selina Martei , Ghanaian Member of Parliament for Asamankese (1965–1966)
Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013), first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who served from 1979 to 1990
Margeret (Maggie) Throup (born 1967), British Member of Parliament for Erewash
Margaret Akidor (born 2002), Kenyan runner
Margaret Abbott (1878–1955), American golfer
Margaret Boyd (1913–1993), English lacrosse player and schoolteacher
Margaret Court (born 1942), Australian tennis player
Margaret Groos (born 1959), American long-distance runner
Margaret Hoelzer (born 1983), American swimmer
Margaret Jeffery (1920–2004), British swimmer and Olympian
Margaret Martin (born 1979), American professional bodybuilder
Margaret Maughan (1928–2020), British Paralympic archer
Margaret McIver (1933–2020), Australian equestrian
Margaret Purce (born 1995) American soccer player
Margaret "Polly" Palfrey Woodrow (1906-1997), American tennis player
Margaret Barclay , died 1618 as a result of witch trials held in Irvine, Ayrshire
Margaret Catherine Blaikie (1823–1915), Scottish temperance reformer
Margaret Brent (c. 1601–1671 ), English immigrant colonial landowner
Margaret Casely-Hayford (born 1959), British lawyer
Margaret Cochran Corbin (1751–1800), fought in the U.S. Revolutionary War and was given a pension by Congress
Margaret Douie Dougal (1858–1938), British chemical publication indexer
Margaret Dye Ellis (1845–1925), American social reformer
Margaret E. Kuhn (1905–1995), founder of the Gray Panthers organisation
Margaret Elizabeth Douglas (1934–2008), English television producer and executive
Margaret Feeny (1917–2012), founder and first director of London's Africa Centre
Margaret Hampshire (1918–2004), British educator and civil servant
Margaret Hanmer (c. 1362 – c. 1420), the wife of Welsh leader Owain Glyndŵr
Margaret Haughery (1813–1882), philanthropist known as "the mother of the orphans"
Margaret Kempe Howell (1806–1867), American planter and slave owner
Margaret Irvine (1948–2023), British crossword compiler
Margaret Jeffrey (1896–1977), Australian police officer
Margaret Bischell McFadden , American philanthropist and social worker
Margaret Olivia Slocum Sage (1828–1918), American philanthropist who established the Russell Sage Foundation
Margaret Prior (1773–1842), American humanitarian, missionary, moral reform worker, writer
Margaret Sanger (1879–1966), founder of the birth control movement in the United States
Margaret Swain (1909–2002), English embroidery and textile historian
Fictional characters [ edit ]
Margaret, a character who is Jake the Dog ’s mother in the TV series Adventure Time
Margaret in Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare
Margaret, a character in the Cartoon Network animated series Regular Show
Mary Margaret Blanchard, a main character in ABC TV show Once Upon A Time , played by Ginnifer Goodwin
Margaret "Peggy" Bundy , a character played by Katey Sagal in the 1987–97 Fox sitcom Married... with Children
Margaret "Peggy" Carter , a character featured in several storylines published by Marvel Comics
Margaret Fish, a chiropodist and a character in Bob and Margaret
Margaret Hale , heroine in Elizabeth Gaskell 's 1855 novel North and South
Margaret Hooper , secretary to White House Chiefs of Staff Leo McGarry and CJ Cregg played by NiCole Robinson in the TV series The West Wing
Margaret "Maggie" Horton , a character on the soap opera Days of Our Lives
Margaret Houlihan , character in both the movie and television show M*A*S*H
Margaret Mildred "Kit" Kittredge , in the Kit Kittredge series of American Girl books and related toys
Margaret "Meg" March, character in Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Margaret "Maggie" Mathison, character in Homeland
Margaret Moonlight, a boss in the Suda 51 game No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
Margaret "Peggy" Olson , a central character in the AMC series Mad Men
Mistress Margaret Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare
Margaret Evelyn "Maggie" Simpson in the TV show The Simpsons
Margaret Sawyer , fictional character in DC Comics and a supporting character in Superman and Batman
Margaret SquarePants, SpongeBob's mother and Harold's wife in SpongeBob SquarePants
Margaret White , a character Stephen King 's Carrie
Margaret "Peggy" Woolley , a character in the BBC radio serial The Archers
^ a b Ilya Gershevitch, “Margarites, the Pearl,” Études irano-aryennes offertes à Gilbert Lazard, Studia Iranica 7, Paris, 1989, pp. 113-36.
^ Cecil Adams (8 January 1993). "Why is Peggy the nickname for Margaret?" . The Straight Dope. Retrieved 13 August 2012 .
^ Evans, Cleveland Kent (24 September 2023). "Cleveland Evans: Molly peaked with millennials" . omaha.com . Omaha World Herald. Retrieved 20 January 2024 .
^ Chisholm, Hugh , ed. (1911). "Margaret" . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 700.
^ George F. Kunz and Charles H. Stevenson, The Book of the Pearl: The History, Art, Science and Industry of the Queen of Gems (London and New York: MacMillan & Co., 1908), p. 305.
^ Schmitt, Rüdiger. "Persian Loanwords and Names in Greek" . Encyclopædia Iranica . Retrieved 31 March 2022 .
^ "MÁIRÉAD, MAIRÉAD - Irish Names and Surnames" . www.libraryireland.com . Retrieved 22 July 2023 .
^ "MAIGHRÉAD - Irish Names and Surnames" . www.libraryireland.com . Retrieved 22 July 2023 .
^ "MÁIRGHRÉAD, MAIRGHRÉAD - Irish Names and Surnames" . www.libraryireland.com . Retrieved 22 July 2023 .
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